


A Garden Blooms in Winter

by OlkarianPrincess



Series: Shidgemas [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort, Domestic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Ice Skating, Mostly Fluff, No breakdowns just some sad, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro has Big Sad, Winter, but Pidge is there for him, but it's ok bc fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23189819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlkarianPrincess/pseuds/OlkarianPrincess
Summary: Saving the universe is hard work. When the team finally gets a small break, while doing maintenance on the ship, they have some winter fun on a cold planet. But Shiro doesn't like the cold. It's hard to deal with. Thankfully, Pidge is there for him.
Relationships: Pidge | Katie Holt/Shiro
Series: Shidgemas [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668040
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	A Garden Blooms in Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for @alexako2222 on Tumblr, pinch-hit for the Shidge Secret Santa. Hope you like it!

Shiro was tired. After all, who wouldn’t be? Voyaging across the universe, gathering allies, fighting hard battles...he was tired. But he wasn’t done. Haggar was still out there, more powerful than ever. Still, exhaustion seeped through his skin and into his bones. The chill from the ice planet they’d momentarily settled on filled the ship and bleed through the walls. Even with the heat on, Shiro felt it making its way to his core.

He was tired and he didn’t like the cold. It reminded him of a different time, a time that made his heart ache. A time when the cruelties of existence seemed personal and something to rebel against. It reminded him of Kerberos.

But this wasn’t Kerberos, and Shiro wasn’t as young and unassuming as he’d once been. According to his friends, he was allowed to be a crotchety old man, what with the white hair and all. It didn’t matter that he was still in his prime. Leading an army that would determine the fate of every living soul in existence. It was a lot, and Shiro sighed at the thought.

Outside his bedroom door, in the lounging space of his generously sized quarters (he supposed it was one perk to having so many lives on his hands) he heard chatter. The sound was joyful, sparkling, and it helped protect from the chill that threatened to freeze him solid. Shiro sat a while longer, enjoying the cacophony of voices, until he heard the main door to his quarters open, and footsteps fade into the distance. Pushing himself up from his mattress, he took a deep breath, and moved to his bedroom door. His fingers lingered in front of it for just a moment, but it was long enough for him to lose the opportunity to open the door himself.

It slid open and a bright smile met his eyes.

“Hey there, big guy,” Katie beamed.

“Hey there, little guy,” he responded.

She twisted her expression into one of mock disdain before turning to go sit on the circular couch, and he trailed after her.

“Everyone just left. Apparently Lance found a frozen lake and Hunk insisted we go ice skating,” she told him as he sat down.

“Do any of them know how to skate?” Shiro responded with a grin.

He reached out to her, and she did the same, their fingers intertwined.

“Hell if I know. Allura insists it’s just like a sport they had on Altea, but I’m not so sure. What she described was a lot more...” Katie cringed, “violent.”

Shiro felt his chest vibrate as he gave a low chuckle. They were an odd little family, weren’t they?

“What about you then?” he asked, noting the way she gazed aloofly at the door their friends just left through.

Katie turned, her golden eyes meeting his with an intensity that he knew indicated that she was analyzing him. It made him feel exposed, but not cold. Her gaze was warm, and that warmth reached him like sunlight reaches plants, causing his chest to blossom with a comfortable heat.

“What about me?” she spoke, eyes still trained on him.

_ So it’s a game we’re playing. _

Her expression was straight, but he could see the mischievousness in her eyes. So Shiro played back.

“Why are you still in my quarters, instead of out there with them?”

“Your quarters?” her brow shot up and she gasped in an over dramatic display of offense.

“You still think these quarters belong to you?”

It was a challenge, and Shiro knew better than to fight battles he wasn’t going to win. They’d never actually said it aloud, but it was an unspoken fact that the quarters that were once his now belonged to the both of them. Katie only really went to her assigned room when she was brooding over something or needed some alone time, which wasn’t too often. She always told Shiro that being with him usually counted as not being around people and Shiro would take offense.

“Does that mean I’m not a person?”

“Nope. You’re part of me,” she’d say, wrapping her arms around his waist, and he’d flush with embarrassment.

Of course, if any of their friends knew she said cheesy stuff like that, she’d be the one flushing red. And might possibly explode. Although he was certain their friends suspected their relationship, it was just another unsaid thing. Then again, some of them--Lance--were really dense, so maybe they didn’t know after all.

“Okay fine,” Shiro said with a brilliant smile. Thinking about their relationship always perked him up. “I’ll rephrase: Don’t you want to go ice skating?”

“Of course I do. I’ve never tried it before!” her flat expression broke, “But I wanted to go with you.”

Her last words were soft and made it so, even though Shiro wanted to sigh and look away, he kept his eyes on her. He knew that he must’ve still looked uncomfortable though, since she leaned in all the way and pressed herself tightly against his side.

“I’ll keep you warm, big guy,” she whispered.

Turning his head down, he pressed his face into her hair and placed a kiss on her head. Shrio inhaled her scent, focused on the pressure of her body against his, and felt that growing garden of warmth in his chest once more.

“Alright, but only if you promise.”

~ * ~

“Shiro!” 

Smiling faces greeted him as he approached the natural ice rink, arm looped around Katie’s.

He was still cold, his cheeks pale and eyes dry, but he was managing. Katie had insisted on covering him head-to-toe with extra layers of clothing and even a hat to keep his ears snug. He would’ve dressed himself the same way anyway, only he wouldn’t have decided to try rigging several heating pads into a mobile, make-shift heat vest. And yet, there he was, heat vest and all. 

Deep down, he knew that the chill he felt did not actually eminante from the environment, but Katie’s efforts helped soothe him nonetheless. If his body was creating sensation from emotions, then emotions would also be the things to heal him.

So there he was, at the edge of a frozen pond, Katie pushing herself tightly against him while they watched their friends glide over the ice. More accurately, they watched Hunk and Coran glide over the ice like majestic winter fairies. Keith, Allura, Lance, and Romelle were having less luck at looking graceful.

“Are we going to get on the ice?” Shiro asked, glancing at Katie.

Her eyes peered at him from under her white and blue cap. It was the one he’d bought for her back on Earth.

“Okay so,” she spoke slowly, “I know I said I wanted to do this, and I understand the science behind why we’re able to move on tiny pieces of sharp metal...”

She glanced down at her (honestly, MacGyvered skates--it’s not like they had anticipated having winter fun on a rare day of maintenance).

“There’saone-hundredpercentchanceIamgoingtolandonmyasspleasedontlaugh,” she spat out altogether.

Shiro was unable to contain the laugh that built in his chest, attracting the attention of their friends and turning the small part of Katie’s face that was visible pink.

“Whoops,” Shiro said, covering his laugh with a cough in embarrassment.

“You suck,” Katie jabbed him with her elbow, but he saw the joy in her face.

“How about this,” Shiro offered, untangling his arm from hers.

“I’ll get onto the ice first, and then you can grab my hand and I’ll guide you.”

“Sure, seems logical,” she replied with a nod.

Siro stepped away from her and felt his heart sink a little. They were no longer in physical contact and apparently his subconscious very much did not like that. Nope, it would need to be remedied. So, ignoring how the wind suddenly seemed much colder as it bit at his nose, he gracefully slipped onto the ice. Turning to Katie, he extended his hand.

As she reached out, words escaped his lips.

“Join me, Katie, and together we’ll rule the galaxy.”

Katie lost herself in laughter, only barely able to grab his hand before her body was thrown off balance in the process of making the loud noise. Shiro reacted immediately, pulling her into him so that she wouldn’t fall down, and giving her time to calm her fit.

After her laughter was reduced to giggles, and then once even those subsided, she looked up at him with a smile. Those golden eyes radiating warmth once more.

“Seriously, Shiro,” she evened her lips into a serious line. 

He furrowed his brows together, unsure of what was wrong.

“Which galaxy? I mean, there’s a lot to choose from.”

It was Shiro’s turn to fight off the laughter, and only after he was able to calm down, did they finally, actually skate.

Well, they tried to skate. Katie did fall on her ass a lot, and Shiro did his best to not laugh.


End file.
